Aubrey Brain (12 July 189321 September 1955) was a British

horn Horn may refer to: Common uses * Horn (acoustic), a tapered sound guide ** Horn antenna ** Horn loudspeaker ** Vehicle horn ** Train horn *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various animals * Horn (instrument), a family ...

player and teacher. He was the father of

Dennis Brain Dennis Brain (17 May 19211 September 1957) was a British French horn, horn player. From a musical family – his father and grandfather were horn players – he attended the Royal Academy of Music in London. During the Second World War he served ...

Biography

Aubrey Harold Brain was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1893. He came from a musical family. His father, Alfred Edwin Brain Sr. was a member of the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

(LSO) horn quartet. His brother

Alfred Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interlu ...

was for many years the principal horn player in the

Queen's Hall The Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Langham Place, London, Langham Place, London, opened in 1893. Designed by the architect Thomas Knightley, it had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London's principal concert venue. Fro ...

Orchestra under Sir Henry Wood. He went to the United States to join the Damrosch Orchestra in 1923, and remained permanently, becoming an American citizen. In 1911 Aubrey Brain won a scholarship to the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

. He was appointed principal horn of the New Symphony Orchestra that same year, and in 1912 he went on the LSO's tour of the United States under

Arthur Nikisch Arthur Nikisch (12 October 185523 January 1922) was a Hungary, Hungarian conducting, conductor who performed internationally, holding posts in Boston, London, Leipzig and—most importantly—Berlin. He was considered an outstanding interpreter ...

. He was principal horn of

Thomas Beecham Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, (29 April 18798 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philh ...

's opera company orchestra in 1913. In 1923 he succeeded his teacher, Adolf Borsdorf as professor of horn at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

, where his son

Dennis Dennis or Denis is a first or last name from the Greco-Roman name Dionysius, via one of the Christian saints named Dionysius. The name came from Dionysus, the Greek god of ecstatic states, particularly those produced by wine, which is some ...

was among his students. Dame Ethel Smyth wrote her Concerto for Violin, Horn and Orchestra with Aubrey Brain in mind. He and

Jelly d'Arányi Jelly d'Aranyi, fully Jelly Aranyi de Hunyadvár ( (30 May 189330 March 1966) was a Hungarian violinist who made her home in London. She was born in Budapest, the great-niece of Joseph Joachim and sister of the violinist Adila Fachiri, with whom ...

premiered the work under Sir Henry Wood on 5 March 1927. He also played it in Berlin with

Marjorie Hayward Marjorie Olive Hayward (14 August 188510 January 1953) was an English violinist and violin teacher, prominent during the first few decades of the 20th century. Biography Marjorie Hayward was born in Greenwich in 1885. An "infant prodigy", he ...

. He joined the

BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. The ...

as principal horn, and remained there until illness caused his premature retirement in 1943. He was often a soloist, and made a number of recordings. He had a marked preference for French instruments, and played a hand horn made by Labbaye in c. 1865, to which English-made valves had been added. He would never permit the use of large-bore German horns in the BBC SO. He married Marion Beeley, a singer at

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

. His two sons were Dennis Brain, even more famous as a horn player, and Leonard Brain, an

oboist An oboist (formerly hautboist) is a musician who plays the oboe or any oboe family instrument, including the oboe d'amore, cor anglais or English horn, bass oboe and piccolo oboe or oboe musette. The following is a list of notable past and pres ...

Discography

One recording by Aubrey Brain has been made available by the British classical record company Testament: * SBT 1001 Johannes Brahms, Horn Trio in E flat major, Op. 40. With Adolf Busch, violin, and Rudolf Serkin, piano. Recorded on 13 November 1933, at the Abbey Road Studios, London, and originally published on 78 RPM shellac as DB.2105/8. Further included on the CD is Brahms' Clarinet Quintet, played by Reginald Kell, clarinet, and the Busch Quartet (recorded on 10 October 1937).

References

General references

* Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th ed., 1954 * All information taken from the booklet of Testament SBT 1001. English classical horn players British music educators 1893 births 1955 deaths 20th-century English classical musicians 20th-century English musicians Players of the BBC Symphony Orchestra {{brass-musician-stub